Sacramento Kings hope rookies can help change the culture in town

The Sacramento Kings have four key acquisitions from this years NBA draft that will help them evolve into the new brand of basketball the city is trying to build.

Although their additions to the team have been overshadowed by the signings and trades in other parts of the league, their improvements shouldn’t go unnoticed.

De’Aaron Fox

During the 2017 NBA draft, the Kings took the former Kentucky Wildcat guard De’Aaron Fox with the fifth overall pick. Many analysts have compared Fox’s defensive tenacity and speedy play to the Washington Wizards all-star point guard John Wall.

If the Kings get anything close to Wall from their rookie guard then they have struck gold.

While in college, Fox averaged 16.7 points per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the field for the Wildcats.

The highlight of his freshman season was in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament when he put up 39 points in a close victory against UCLA and their former standout guard Lonzo Ball. Ball was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the second overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft.

Justin Jackson

To pair with Fox, the Kings traded for the former North Carolina Tar Heels forward Justin Jackson during the 2017 NBA draft. Sacramento received picks Nos. 15 and 20 in a deal with the Portland Trailblazers.

People were surprised when they saw how far Justin Jackson fell in the draft because he could have been a top 10 pick according to many NBA analysts.

Jackson won an NCAA Championship and ACC Player of the Year award with the Tar Heels last season while averaging 18.3 points per game.

He was a three-year starter for the Tar Heels and he looks to improve a Kings team that finished last season with a record of 32-50.

Harry Giles

Former Duke Basketball forward Harry Giles has very different story than the other three draft picks.

Giles was riddled with injuries throughout his high school basketball career and it has been difficult for him to regain his form he once showed earlier in high school.

ESPN NBA insider Chad Ford said while on The Basketball Analogy podcast that NBA executives felt that Giles would have been the best player in the draft if it weren’t for his two ACL tears.

Many believe Giles has a ton of upside and a ton of risk. That’s why he fell to the twentieth overall pick.

While with Duke, Giles didn’t really get to show what he could truly do because he was only given 11.5 minutes per game and that’s partly because his injuries were still affecting his play.

For a player who was once compared to LeBron James while coming out of a high school, he could be a steal for the Kings at No. 20.

Giles will look to regain his form of old and show why he was once the top high school basketball player in the country.

Frank Mason III

Frank Mason III was chosen by the Kings with the thirty-fourth pick in the NBA draft.

Mason III was a guard for Kansas Basketball and he averaged 20.9 points per game while shooting 49 percent from the field.

Those stats earned Mason III a first team All-American selection and many player of the year awards. He earned the AP Player of the Year, Sporting News Player of the Year, USA Today Player of the Year, and the Naismith Award.

For a man with this many accolades, the Kings should be happy that they found a scoring guard to replace their former first round pick Ben McLemore who signed with the Memphis Grizzlies this offseason.